1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to meters, and is more specifically, but not exclusively, concerned with modular utility meters, particularly water meters.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A wide variety of utility meters are known for measuring the supply of utilities, for example, gas, water and electricity. The measurement of utility supply allows each consumer to be charged according to the level of their use of the supply and discourages wasting of natural resources.
A utility meter comprising, in general, a transducer, processing electronics and a power supply will often have to be completely replaced should any of these parts fail. For example, the moving parts of a mechanical transducer may wear, or the battery power supply will run out.
A utility meter may include a visual display for displaying the current supply reading, and often also includes apparatus for facilitating remote reading, such as an external inductive pad or a radio frequency (RF) module. This apparatus allows the meter to be read without a person having to manually record the reading. Should the reading requirements for the meter change, for example if it becomes desirable to read the meter using RF methods rather than using an inductive pad, then the whole utility meter must necessarily be replaced or physically modified. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to seek to mitigate these disadvantages.